Changing Jobs

[coowboy]

Folks,
Here is my situation

- Indian Citizen under EB2
- Labor PD Nov'2001
- I-140 & I-485 file date July'2003.
- EAD approved Feb'2004 and renewed again for validity till Feb'2006
- I-140 approval in May'2004
- Did finger printing in Sep'2004

I'm looking out for opportunities outside. With this new Retrogression situation, can I change my employer and still maintain my PD? Has anyone gone through a similar situation and consulted with attorneys? My company uses Fragomen. Can I use their services post-change? Appreciate responses.

 

[asnssf]

Changing Employer After I-140 Approval

Rajiv already answered this question in the Sep16th Memo.

From: Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna, PC
To: Our Clients
Dated: 16 September 2005
Subject: Priority Dates Retrogression
http://boards.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=189095
http://boards.immigrationportal.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=13098

CHANGING EMPLOYER AFTER I-140 APPROVAL If a person has received an I-140 approval through an employer, the priority date then permanently belongs to him or her. Under very limited circumstances (such as fraud) INS may revoke the I-140 thus causing a loss of priority date.

If such a person changes employers, their priority date will remain the old one , even though they have to process their labor certification and I-140 again with the new employer. It does not matter where in USA the new job is located, what the new job title is or whether the new job falls under EB-2 or EB-3. The priority date is still transferable.

 

[coowboy]

asnssf --> Thanks for the email. Do I need to file Ac-21 in case I change employers?

Also can we use this thread to track experiences whilst changing jobs during this Retrogression phase.

 

[coowboy]

Folks,
Read through Rajiv's bulletin. I''m not clear about this statement,

CHANGING EMPLOYER AFTER I-140 APPROVAL If a person has received an I-140 approval through an employer, the priority date then permanently belongs to him or her. Under very limited circumstances (such as fraud) INS may revoke the I-140 thus causing a loss of priority date.

If such a person changes employers, their priority date will remain the old one, even though they have to process their labor certification and I-140 again with the new employer. It does not matter where in USA the new job is located, what the new job title is or whether the new job falls under EB-2 or EB-3. The priority date is still transferable.

I have my I-140 approved and currently on EAD and using AP to travel in & out of US. Does this mean I will have to re-file my labor and I-140 again with the new employer all over?

 

[posmd]

485 filed

The above is for those who have not filed 485 yet. Since you have EAD/AP you would have filed 485 already, so you would not need to go throughlabour/140 again. Of course you have to wait the 180 days after filing 485 and file AC21 when you move.